Manufacture of punches



Aug. 21, 1956 w. T. GOLLWITZER 2,759,253

MANUFACTURE OF PUNCHES Original Filed Dec. 16, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet l [rat/2122501 Zl/a/ler ,7: Go/fw/zf; er

Morraey' 1956 w. T. GOLLWITZER 2,759,253

MANUFACTURE OF PUNCHES Original Filed Dec. 16, 1950 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 2,759,253 MANUFACTURE or PUNCHES Walter T. Gollwitzer, Euclid, Ohio, assignor to Addressograph-Multigraph Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Original application December 7 16, 1950, Serial No. 201,102. Divided and this'application January 30, 1953, Serial N0. 334,340

4 Claims. (Cl. 29-428) This application is a division of my copending application Serial No. 201,102, filed December 16, 1950, now U. S. Patent No. 2,710,406. i

This invention relates to settable punches of the kind adapted to form data representing perforations in cards, checks and the like, and particularly it relates to the making of the punch block thereof.

In punching mechanisms for producing 'data representing perforations in cards or business instruments, it is essential that the punch guiding block and the cooperating die block be accurately formed and related to each other so that the data representing perforations will be properly located and related in the business instruments produced thereby, and the primary object of the present invention is to simplifyl the-attainment of such an accurately producedstructure. ,More specifically, it is an object of the present invention toafford a novel and advantageous method of producing, the punch blocks so that the accuracy desired rnay beat tained in a relatively economical manner a, H

Other and further objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and claims and are illustrated in the accompanying drawings which, by way of illustration, show a; preferred embodiment of the present invention and the principles thereof and what I now consider to be the best mode in which I have contemplated applying these principlesl Other embodiments of the invention embodying the same or equivalent principles may be used and structural changes may be made as desired by those skilled in the art without departing from the present invention and the purview of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a punch block made in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of certain individual elements that are utilized in producing the punch block structure;

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional .view taken substantially along the line 33 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is an elevational view taken from the liue 44 of Fig. 2. v

For purposes of disclosure, the invention is herein illustrated as embodied in a settable punch structure provided for selectively forming data representing perforations in the cards, while they are disposed at punch- Patented Aug. 21, 1956,

2 blocks into and through which a card may be moved, and the punch block 610 is supported on a mounting plate 614 so that this throat 613 is aligned with the card guideway along which the card is fed to punching position.

The openings 612G serve as guides for the punches 611, whilethe openings 612D serve as the die openings for punching cooperation with the punches, and these elements are of rectangular form so that the data perforations, will be of the form that is most'commonly 7 used. The punchings are discharged from the die opening position in a machine of the kind disclosed in my aforesaid parent application. Such punching structure as herein shown is constructed for punching in forty different columns and is therefore provided with a rigid punch block structure 610 having punches 611 mounted therein in forty rows of twelve punches each. The punch block 610 comprises an upper punch guide 610G and a lower die block 610D, these blocks being secured rigidly together so as to align corresponding, located vertical openings 612G and 612D thereof. The lower face of the punch guide 6106 is recessed upwardly at 613 so as to form a punch throat between the two ings 612D through a large passage 6141 in the plate 614 and drop downwardly through a funnel-shaped disposal chute 615.

The punching and stripping movements are applied to the punches 611 by means including a punch ram structure mounted on four vertically movable rods 625 that have a punch ram plate 626 fixed at their upper ends so as to overlie all of the punches 611. The rods 625 extend slidably through the stationary guide plate 614 adjacent to the respective corners of the punch block 610 and at their lower ends these rods are associated with an actuating means as shown in said parent application.

The twelve punches 611 in each column are each formed with a notch or slot 6118 in one side thereof for use in attaining the necessary stripping or upward withdrawing movements thereof. These notches 6118 are relatively close to, but are spaced downwardly from the upper ends of the punches, and the portion of the punches in which the. notches 6118 are formed are disposed at all times above the upper face of the punch guide block 610G. The twelve punches 611 are 'disposed in pairs as shown in Fig. 3, so that the notches 6118 of the punches of each pair face toward each other, and six stripper bars 640 are provided which are of inverted T-shape in cross section. One such bar 640 extends between the punches of each pair so that the lower or bottomflanges 640F of the bar extend into the slots 6118 of the punches of such pair, and it should be noted that the vertical extent of each notch 6118 is greater than the thickness of the flanges 640F so as to allow for selective punching movements of the punches relative to the stripper bars 640, as will hereinafter become apparent. The stripper bars 640 are suspended below the ram plate 626 by cheek plates 645 which are fixed to the sides of the ram plate, and the ends of the bars 640 are disposed in carrier slots 645$ formed in the adjacent faces of the cheek plates 645.

The punches 611 are held in place against accidental displacement from the guiding openings 612D by means of retaining strips 648 which are of the same overall width as the flanged lower ends of the stripper bars 640 and these bars or strips 648 are arranged in the slots 6118 of the punches in the same manner as the stripper bars. The retaining strips 648 are held in position on the top of the guide block 6106 by retaining screws 649 so that the strips 648 are normally disposed at substantially the lower ends of the slots 6118 although the punches 611 may move downwardly as required in the operation of the punch. The strips 648 serve to hold the punches 611 against upward displacement such as might interfere with the interposer operation or setting.

The formation of the punch blocks 6 formation ofthe slots 612 in an accurate relationship.

Thus the material that is to make up the two blocks is originally formed as a plurality of individual plates 6101 as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings, one such plate 610P being afforded for each column of punches 611, and the total thickness that is equal'to the width of the openings plus the spacing between adjacent openings. These plates 6IOP are of such a depth as to be somewhat greater than the total vertical dimension of the two blocks 6106 and 610D that are to be made, and the side faces thereof are accurately machined so that the plates 610P are of the proper thickness which is equal to the column spacing to be employed in the card C. In one face of each plate 610P, a plurality of parallel slots or grooves are formed as indicated in Fig. 2 and these grooves have been identified by the reference character 612 in this figure. It will be evident of course that such slots may be accurately formed as to size and relationship, and after these grooves have been formed in the groove of plates 610P, these plates are positioned in a symmetrical face to face relationship and a closure plate 610X is put in position opposite the last one of these plates so that the proper number of slots 612 will be defined between the several plates that are thus assembled. Proper alignment of the slots in the several plates 610P may of course be facilitated by accurate machining of the end surfaces of the plates and by forming the grooves 612 in the plates through the use of the end surfaces as gauge surfaces.

The assembled plates are then brazed together, and in practice the plates are secured together in units of ten plates each so that a 40-column punch is made up of four such units secured together by clamping as will be described. After such brazing, the outside front and rear edge surfaces of the assembled blocks or units are machined to afford accurate positioning surfaces thereon such as rabeted corner grooves 610Y, and the block is separated along the line indicated at 610Z in Fig. 4 and the clearance throat 613 is formed in the lower face of the upper block 6106. The units forming the upper and lower blocks are then reassembled through the use of front and rear positioning frame bars 610F that have tongues 610T thereon engaging the end grooves 610Y. These front and rear bars are connected by side clamping bars 6105 that are screwed thereto so as to clamp the four ten-column units together. The upper and lower frames are then secured in place by cap screws on the base plate 614, the inner edges of the upper bars 610F being arranged to overlie the edges of the blocks 610D so as to hold the same down. Thus the blocks 610 G and 610D are accurately located with respect to each other and are secured in position on the mounting plate 614.

While the actuation of the punches forms no part of the present invention, it may be observed that the punches 610 of each column are adapted to be selectively actuated in the course of a downward or punching stroke of the ram plate 626 and this selection is brought about through the setting of individual interposers 650. These interposers take different forms, interposers 650A being 7 adapted to be automatically set from and under control of the perforations in the printing devices D, and others of which are adapted to be set manually, as described in my aforesaid parent application.

From the foregoing description, it will also be evident that the present invention simplifies and reduces the cost of producing accurate and accurately related punch guiding and die blocks.

Thus, while I have illustrated and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is to be understood that this is capable of variation and modification, and I therefore do not wish to be limited to the precise details set forth, but desire to avail myself of such changes and alterations as fall within the purview of the following claims.

I claim:

1. The method of making a punch'receiving block having parallel punch receiving openings formed therein in a plurality of parallel columns each including a plurality of such openings, said method consisting in forming a plurality of similar rectangular plates of a thickness equal to the center-to-center column spacing desired, accurately machining the edge and end surfaces of said plates to afford gauge surfaces, forming a plurality of parallel and similarly located slots in the corresponding face of each such plate by reference to said gauge surfaces to afford a plurality of spaced apart guide slots in each plate for a column of punches of corresponding number, clamping said plates together in corresponding and face-to-face relation by reference to such gauge surfaces, and securing said plates together in such relation.

2. The method of making a punch receiving block having mated punch guide and die blocks each having parallel punch receiving openings formed therein in a plurality of parallel columns, each including a plurality of such openings, and wherein the openings in the respective columns of the two blocks are to be aligned, said method consisting in forming a plurality of similar rectangular plates of a thickness equal to the center-to-center column spacing desired for the columns of punches, forming a plurality of parallel and similarly located slots in the corresponding side face of each such plate, clamping said plates together in corresponding and face-to-face relation, securing said plates together in such relation to form an initial block, and cutting said initial block into two parts in a plane perpendicular to said slots.

3. The method of making a punch receiving block having mated punch guide and die blocks each having parallel punch receiving openings formed therein in a plurality of parallel columns with each column including a plurality of such openings, said method consisting in forming a plurality of similar rectangular plates of a thickness equal to the center-to-center column spacing desired for the punches, forming a plurality of parallel and similarly located slots in and transversely of the corresponding side face of each such plate, clamping said plates together in corresponding and face-to-face relation, brazing said plates together in such relation to form an initial block, cutting said initial block into two parts in a plane perpendicular to saidslots, and machining the external surfaces of the two parts to afford locating surfaces.

4. The method of making a punch receiving block having mated punch guide and die blocks each having parallel punch receiving openings formed therein in a plurality of parallel columns with each column including a plurality of such' openings, said method consisting in forming a plurality of similar rectangular plates of a thickness equal to the center-to-center column spacing desired, forming a plurality of parallel and similarly located slots in and transversely of the corresponding face of each such plate, clamping said plates together in corresponding and face-to-face relation, brazing said plates together in such relation to form an initial block, cutting said initial block into two parts in a plane perpendicular to said'slots, machining the external surfaces of the two parts to afford locating surfaces, and securing mounting frame elements in cooperating relationship with said locating surfaces.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 632,879 Norton Sept. 12, 1899 1,470,498 Steenstrup Oct. 9, 1923 1,654,306 Paszkowski Dec. 27 1927 1,986,036 Whistler Jan. 1, 1935 2,089,795 Hodge Aug. 10, 1937 2,280,981 Schuh Apr. 28, 1942 2,352,190 Foote June 27, 1944 2,390,183 Selig Dec. 4, 1945 2,458,802 Spencer Jan. 11, 1949 2,469,975 McCloy' May 10, 1949 

